By Murdoch University Senior Lecturer in Parasitology, Dr Amanda Ash.
The recent viral news item about the lady with a worm in her brain was suitably horrifying and ugly, but thankfully rare.
However, it is a timely reminder that parasites can be harmful particularly if they find themselves in the wrong host. As was the case with this brain worm, which usually cycles between small mammals and snakes – not humans.However, wrong place, right time and strange things can happen.
Here at Murdoch University, we have a lot of expertise in parasitology, often not the case in many universities, and we teach a lot of students about parasites.
Students studying Veterinary Science, Biomedical Science and Laboratory Medicine all have the chance to be immersed in the topic learning about the mostly bad, but sometimes good, facts about parasitic infections.
In addition to teaching parasitology, I have also spent the last 10 years chasing a different brain parasite around Laos called Taenia solium.
This is a tapeworm involving pigs and people, with people harbouring the adult tapeworm in GI tract and pigs the larval stage encysted in the musculature.
However, people can also be infected with the larval stage which sometimes makes its way to the brain causing clinical symptoms such as epilepsy. In endemic countries Taenia solium is the leading cause of late onset epilepsy.
Yes, parasites can definitely harm you, but a lesser known fact is that parasites can also be instrumental in maintaining a healthy immune system.
Evidence suggests that the lack of human parasitic infections in developed countries is correlated with high prevalences of auto immune diseases such as Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative colitis and even hay fever.
Developing countries which still have endemic parasitic disease do not suffer the same rates of autoimmune diseases.
This is often referred to as the hygiene hypothesis and I know if I had a choice between ulcerative colitis and a ’friendly’ hookworm infection I would have no hesitation in choosing the latter.
As for the python brain worm, one of my fourth year Laboratory Medicine students made an insightful comment: “the poor worm, it must have been so confused in there” – and she would be right.
Learn more about Murdoch University Harry Butler Institute parasitologist Dr Amanda Ash's decade-long project chasing a tapeworm around Laos.